Lost amid Waiters' breakout moments last season was that there were a few things even more limited than his 46 appearances over the 82-game schedule.

He ranked 114th in NBA net rating, 145th in player-impact estimate, 149th in player-efficiency rating, a PER standing that put him four spots below Ish Smith, with his 14.61 rating below the 15.0 of an "average" player.

The next step at his new going rate has to be consistency.

And making it to the court more than 56 percent of the time.

"When he came in for training camp," Riley said during his summer media briefing, "he simply was not ready for what we're about. And I think he had some groin issues and some hamstring issues in training camp, just soreness. And then he had a minor sprain and missed a couple of games and then he tore the groin that put him out a long time. And it took him a long time to come back from that."

But it was what Riley saw inside the numbers, literally in the middle of Waiters' season, that convinced him that four years at $52 million made sense.

"From I think it was January the 17th to March the 17th, he had the run," Riley said. "And inside of that run we won 13 in a row, where he was healthy, he was in shape and he was playing very confidently. He averaged 18 points, shot 48 percent from the field and over 40 percent from three.

"He needs to get his free-throw percentage up. I can't believe he's not an 80 percent free-throw shooter. He shot 66 percent [actually .646] on the year. So we just want to make him more efficient."

And then came the Riley challenge, because there always is a Riley challenge, whether he is making you prove your worth or whether he has upped the salary ante.

"What he needs to do during the summer is realize it isn't just running sprints or running steps to get cardio shape," he said, "that he needs to go from his knees to his core in a rehab-type of conditioning, which our guys are good for. So I think he'll train a little bit differently. We know his body now."

It is not unusual for Riley to issue weight and body-fat targets to players in the offseason, as he did with Waiters, James Johnson and Wayne Ellington upon their 2016 arrivals.

For Waiters, though, the next metric from Riley is more tangible: to be alongside Goran Dragic often enough to make sure that a playoff berth this time isn't lost through a tiebreaker.

"The goal, I said to him, is 70, 80 games is what you want to play," Riley said. "It used to be a badge of honor to play 82. Guys would be celebrated for playing 82. I mean, I coached A.C. Green in 587 games straight. He played with broken fingers and everything.

"But that can't happen anymore today, because coaches will just rest players now. But getting your players to play 70 games a year healthy, that's the goal for Dion and I think that he'll be more consistent."

Because of that, Riley put his money were the statistics weren't.

"He's an end-of-the-game, end-of-the-shot-clock player," Riley said. "A lot of times you can't find those kinds of guys."

iwinderman@sunsentinel.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.winderman

REST OF THE STORY: In retracing Gordon Hayward's path through free agency, the Boston Globe caught up to Hayward's father, who said the Heat's intriguing young core was enough to have his son take his meeting in Miami. "He thought that one was interesting enough that he wanted to go talk to them," Gordon Scott Hayward said. For his part, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert said he sensed Hayward was committed to his eventual move to the Boston Celtics. Gobert was among those who went to Hayward's San Diego home to pitch him to remain with the Jazz. "I think the meeting was good," Gobert told the Deseret News. "We went there, went to his house, talked to him a little bit. It was a little awkward. I was kind of sensing -- it was a little awkward. We have no regrets. We did everything we could have done."

WADE WAIT: If there is to be a Dwyane Wade buyout from the Chicago Bulls it likely will come closer to the start of the season, if even then. In a media session during the Las Vegas summer league, Bulls General Manager Gar Forman said he has not had buyout discussions with Wade, with Wade due $23.8 million this season on the final year of the two-year contract he signed when he left the Heat last summer. Before that, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg cast Wade as somewhat of a Udonis Haslem for the Bulls. "Dwyane is going to have an important role on this team, with having a mentor," Hoiberg said. "He's going to obviously play for us and hopefully play well and take the role of leadership, which is a very important one." With the NBA moving up this season's trading deadline to Feb. 8 it will allow more time for teams to then sort out buyouts. Players must be waived by March 1 in order to be playoff eligible for other teams.

HERE, THERE: The Heat did not land Rudy Gay in free agency, but the forward's affinity for South Florida was apparent, with Gay taking his family to this past week's Home Run Derby at Marlins Park before moving on to his new home with the San Antonio Spurs. Gay, who tore his Achilles on Jan. 18 last season, had expressed interest in the Heat before free agency before agreeing to a two-year, $17 million discount deal with the Spurs. "I'm going to have the best comeback ever," Gay said upon his Spurs introduction. "That's the motivation of it." He turned down his $14 million 2017-18 option from the Sacramento Kings to become a free agent.

SECOND CHANCE: If you blinked, you probably missed Devin Robinson's scoreless nine-minute appearance for the Washington Wizards in Wednesday's Las Vegas summer-league loss to the Heat. As it turned out, the Wizards signed the undrafted Florida Gator to a two-way contract after the game, somewhat salvaging Robinson's decision to leave Florida early. What remains to be seen is how much development will be involved in the two-way deal, with the Wizards lacking a G-League affiliate. Because of proximity, expect Robinson to be assigned to the Philadelphia 76ers' affiliate, the Delaware 87ers.

14. Canadians in the NBA at the end of this past season, including recent Heat free-agent addition Kelly Olynyk. Others include former Heat center Joel Anthony, as well as Tristan Thompson, Corey Joseph and Andrew Wiggins.